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How to get short term visa of Japan

Short term visa of Japan

In the case you  ( Assumed that you are a foreign national ) come to Japan ( for sightseeing, participating in business conference, to meet with friend in Japan etc. ) for a  short term stay ( A maximum 90 days. It differs depending on your nationality) without receiving remuneration in Japan, you need to obtain short term visa.

(Short term visa and Business activity in Japan➡)

( Though, you can find some information on acquisition of visa to come to Japan at website of foreign affairs bureau.
However, there are some difference between information written in Japanese language and written in foreign language. Unfortunately, they provide detailed information only by Japanese. )

If your nationality is China, Russia, CIS Countries, Georgia, Philippines, India, you need to obtain visa to come to Japan.

On the other hand, if your nationality is following countries, you do not need to obtain visa to enter  Japan.
( http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/short/novisa.html )

Necessary process differs depending on your nationality.

In this page, I will explain Indian nationals especially in the case you want to come to Japan for business purpose, sightseeing, meet with your friend or relatives in Japan.

But with this visa, you can not engage in activities that can generate revenue in Japan.

When you ( assumed you are foreign national of India ) want to start a business in Japan, you will inspect economic situation or find wholesaler, find office in Japan.
In that case you need to apply for this short term visa to come to Japan.

Necessary documents to apply for short term visa of Japan 

Your ( foreign national ) identification document excluding passport.
(  For example, birth certificate, driver’s license)

You also need to prepare supporting document that can indicate your identity.

( For example, residence certificate, marriage certificate, curriculum vitae etc.  Officer of embassy or consulate general will demand you other additional document. So, before you apply for visa, you need to ask them in advance.  You need to consulate with Embassy or consulate general of Japan that has jurisdiction over your residence.  According to country, you need to consulate with organization that handles visa procedure ).

Short term visa of Japan and Business Meeting

In the case, you are coming to Japan to participate in business meetings, market research, you need to prepare documents below.
( Assumed that you are belonging to some organization and you are dispatched to Japan by the organization. )

1 Valid Passport

2 Visa application form for single entry visa.

3    Your  picture.
( You need to paste your picture. Size of picture is 45 mm × 45 mm or 2 inch × 2 inch.)

4 Documents that can prove that you have reserved airplane ticket.
( You can provide counterfoil of airplane ticket )

5 Documents to prove that your employer or your company has ordered you to come to Japan for business purpose.
( In case of this process, you need to be an employee of a company or organization. And the company or organization need to prove that they need to dispatch you to Japan for business purpose. )

6  Documents that can prove you are an employee of the company or organization.
( Employment contract etc.  )

Documents prepared by Japan side to obtain Short Term Visa of Japan

In the case you are invited by a person or organization in Japan, they are inviter and the inviter needs to prepare following documents.
( He may become your guarantor in Japan. )

7  Document that can explain the reason of invitation to Japan. =Invitation letter ( 招聘状 = shouhei jou )

In order to obtain visa to come to Japan, you need to find a person or organization who invites you to come to Japan.

In the case you come to Japan to meet with your customers in Japan, you can submit contract paper with your customer.

In the case you are going to participate in conference, you can provide conference minutes.

If you are coming to Japan to participate in meeting, employee of other company will write this letter for you.

Your inviter needs to fill in this document and send it to you by post.
You cannot use scanned copy.

In the case you are ready to start a business relating to Japan and have necessity to meet with me, I will be able to issue invitation letter for you.

Your invitor needs to fill in details of inviting you to Japan.

Writing ” He will come to Japan to meet with me. ” is not enough.

Inviter needs to fill in for example, ” He is going to start an Indian restaurant in Japan. He has been worked as chef in India for 10 years.  I will assist him to look for suitable rental real estate in Chuo ku Tokyo. The range of price should be 300,000 yen per a month. If he has found a suitable place, he will look for wholesaler of food. He has acquaintance in Japan already. So, his friend ( His name is  Tom Thomas residing in ………………. ) also assists him to start his business in Japan.  etc.

Your inviter needs to put his seal on invitation letter.

And the seal should be the company seal or representative’s seal.

He cannot use private seals on this paper generally.

In the case your inviter is foreign company and does not have suitable seal, a person in charge who is enough authority should put his signature on it.

8  Document that can clarify your Schedule of stay in Japan.

In this document, your inviter ( Not you ) needs to fill in date of arrival in Japan and departure from Japan. And he also needs to fill in flight number, name of airport, if you have already reserved.

Your inviter also needs to fill in the details of your stay in Japan.
So, you need to let your inviter know about name and address of hotel and phone number.

Writing ” On 1st day, meeting with inviter. On 2nd day : sightseeing ” is not enough.

Short term visa of Japan and documents prepared by guarantor in Japan

9  Letter of guarantee.

Your guarantor needs to fill in this document and send it to you by post.
You cannot use scanned copy.

Your guarantor needs to fill in every contents.
He cannot omit any small matters.

Your inviter needs to put his seal on letter of guarantee.

And the seal should be the company seal or representative’s seal.

He cannot use private seals on this paper.

In the case your guarantor is foreign company or foreign national and does not have suitable seal, a person in charge who has enough authority should put his signature on it.

If you come to Japan, you need to find a person who resides in Japan. This person is called ” Hoshou nin = 保証人”.

This person guarantee that you will stay in Japan within permitted period and return to your home country. During your stay in Japan, you comply with law of Japan. So, in order to find a such person, you need to clarify about yourself to your guarantor.

10 Certified copy of commercial register.
( In the case inviter is a legal entity in Japan. )

Or document that can indicate activity, purpose of the company.

When an individual is your guarantor, he needs to prepare document that can certificate you are his employee.

In the case you are an employee and your employer in Japan invites you to come to Japan, your employer can provide such kind of document.

If you are not an employee of guarantor in Japan, you cannot prepare this kind of document.

In that case, you can submit the document that can indicate  your reason to come to Japan.

Or you need to select other option to obtain short term visa of Japan.

This is other option.

You can search within this website with “short term visa relatives”.

You can also read “”How to extend short term visa in Japan?””

If you need any assist to come to Japan for business purpose, you can contact me.

akiyama(a)japan-law-tax.com
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